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Elizabeth Wopperer lost everything. She lost her business. She lost $40,000 in cash. And by the time it was all over, she found herself filing for bankruptcy.

On top of all that, the IRS now wants the money that was stolen from her.

The man she blames is going to federal prison for up to 30 months, but that won’t return the cleaning business she was forced to sell or pay the taxes she now owes because of his fraudulent actions.

“She’s an employee of a business she used to run,” her niece, Sara Gruszka, said in court Wednesday.

And Wopperer is just one of Vincent P. Mangione’s victims.

“I feel I’ve been victimized twice – once by Mr. Mangione and again by the IRS,” said Richard Schunke, owner of a West Seneca insurance agency.

Mangione, the operator of a North Tonawanda payroll and tax preparation business, was supposed to pay federal income taxes on behalf of his clients but didn’t.

He chose instead to pocket some of the money, which means Schunke, Wopperer and several others are still on the hook for those taxes.

Wopperer said the IRS is working with her, but Schunke said the government filed a tax lien against his business that makes it difficult for him to continue operating, never mind pay his overdue taxes.

“They’ve ruined my credit,” he said of the IRS. “And I look like a deadbeat.”

IRS officials declined to comment, citing a prohibition on talking about specific tax cases. But in the past, they have made it clear that individuals and businesses are responsible for their taxes, even when they use a tax preparer.

And yes, even when that tax preparer steals from them.

“No logical reason can explain what I’ve done,” Mangione told Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny at Wednesday’s sentencing.

With most of Mangione’s victims looking on, Skretny admonished him for betraying the trust of his clients, many of whom are now facing serious financial problems.

He also ordered him to pay $839,000 in restitution to the victims.

“It comes down to greed more than anything else,” Skretny told Mangione.

“It’s just plain wrong. It’s just plain unfair. It’s just plain criminal conduct, and you have to be held accountable.”